Taking The Long Way Home

Month: July 2014

So after Colorado our next stop is Utah, to visit my sister and brother in law in Park City. We got here a few days ago, and have been having an amazing visit, staying with them and exploring the area. When we got here we needed to park the bus at the bottom of the mountain, since the road to their house was far too narrow to fit the bus. We had a great parking place, along the side of the road at the bottom of the driveway where we could keep an eye on the bus with binoculars from the house.

When we parked the ground was nice and dry and firm, and we thought nothing of leaving the bus there for a few days. What we weren’t expecting was the continuous downpour that started shortly after we arrived. After 3 days of rain the area we were parked in became a nice pool of muddy water. When we came back to the bus this morning ready to load up and hit the road we discovered that we were stuck in the mud. No amount of rocking back and forth or piling rocks under the rear tires would get us out of the hole, we just buried our tires and slid deeper into the mud. We tried throughout the day to pull it out, first with Heidie’s jeep, then with a new Tundra that belonged to a fellow local school bus enthusiast. Neither worked, and we just succeeded in breaking tow straps. Finally after we were about to give up and call a tow company a nice guy stopped by with a fancy new Ford truck, and offered to help. He had some chains that we linked together, and after locking it into 4-low had no trouble yanking the bus up out of the hole. After thanking him profusely he continued on his way as we found a drier place to park the bus tonight.

We had planned on leaving this morning and heading into southern Utah to explore for another couple days, but today’s setback has thrown off all our camping plans so we are coming up with a new route to get to California. Even though we are disappointed that we are missing out on some camping we are very happy to have another night to spend with my sister, we are beginning to like Utah quite a bit. We might just end up back here in the near future, you never know.

We were really excited to see Fort Collins after hearing so many nice things about the town and it’s beer. We were fortunate to come across another one of Steven’s BMW buddies who invited us to park at his place, just around the corner from New Belgium Brewing and a short bike ride from downtown. Colby and Sarah were awesome hosts, they and their adorable pets made us really feel at home. Soon after we arrived we got out our bikes and hit the town in search of dinner. Fort Collins is so amazingly bike friendly, it’s ridiculous. There is bike parking everywhere, including several fancy New Belgium Fat Tire parking racks. And the residents of Fort Collins need every single parking space, because they fill up fast.

Our dinner spot was not open yet, so we headed down the street (and only just beat the rain) to an impressive and hip establishment called The Mayor for a beer. They have 100 rotating beers on tap, which is a little overwhelming but awesome! Lots of local stuff as well as imports to choose from. We continued to have our minds blown when we had an incredible dinner at 415. Figs and goat cheese on my pizza, yes please. I would eat their food all the time if we lived there. Dinner was followed by bar hopping and exploring the nightlife in Old Town. We stopped in at Equinox Brewing and picked up some more of Colby and Sarah’s friends. One place that stood out was Crank n Stein, the most hipster brewery ever that Portland would whole heartedly embrace. Not only do they brew beer, they also serve as a bike shop and coffee roaster. Triple threat.

The next morning, breakfast called loudly. Colby said if we came to Colorado and didn’t eat at Snooze, then our visit didn’t count. So off we went for pancakes and eggs at an adorable brunch spot in Old Town. When we had our fill, we decided it was time for a little auto tour of the area. Colby and Sarah hopped in his M Coupe, and he generously offered Steven his newly acquired E30 to drive behind. It was so fun to ride in an E30 again after so long, and made both of us miss our old cars. Colby’s car is in such perfect shape, and it had no problem keeping up with the little coupe. We drove out to the Horsetooth Reservoir to get a nice view and enjoy the twisty roads up there.

After our outing, our hosts had their own engagements to tend to, so Steven and I spent the rest of the afternoon by ourselves. We biked over to New Belgium, where we’d heard they have beers that don’t make it out past Fort Collins. They have a nice tasting room, and out in the parking lot we found the coolest airstream they have converted into a seating area! Next stop was O’dells Brewery, which has an amazing outdoor seating area, complete with stage and live music. It was such a nice sunny day to be out. Fun fact: we later learned that some guys who were setting up a produce stand in the patio area (isn’t that so Colorado?) are actually fellow skoolie enthusiasts and friends of ours on Instagram. Small world. We next headed into Old Town, this time to wander the shops and see the artwork of the city. There is a really cool music project happening where someone has taken old upright pianos, turned them into pieces of art, and left them all over town for anyone who feels like playing. Another fun thing is all the electrical boxes in Fort Collins are painted, even the ones farther out that aren’t in downtown. It’s a colorful place, and we are so glad we had the opportunity to stay close in with some nice people and experience it.

Heading down out of the mountains toward Denver was a much easier drive than the way up, and the bus handled it just fine. We had a good laugh at the creative signs along the highway warning truckers about the steep downhill grade. Parking in Denver for a night was going to be an issue for us, as I hadn’t come up with any good options yet, so I decided to make a post on a BMW car forum that I am fairly active on asking if anyone had parking available. We got an immediate response from several great guys offering driveways and curbsides all over the Denver area. Roland was the first to offer us a spot along the curb on a dead end street next to his house in Golden, and it worked out perfectly. Roland and his family were so nice; they loved the bus and welcomed us into their home.

Once we got the bus settled and extension cords ran to the house we set of on an adventure through Golden and then down to Denver. Golden was a really neat little down, with a historic downtown area and a nice park next to Clear Creek, the river that runs through town and into the Coors factory. We had a great time walking along the creek and enjoying the beautiful weather. Since we were in Golden we had to go check out the Coors factory, even though Coors beer is a sin to us! Unfortunately (fortunately) we got there too late and they were closed for tours, but we did get to see the outside of their massive factory. It was interesting from a history standpoint.

Waving goodbye to Golden we set off down the highway into Denver, we had better breweries to visit! Stopping at Great Divide first we really enjoyed their lively tasting room, and their delicious beer. We had learned about Great Divide while living in Florida, since our local beer store had several of their offerings available. I got to try their Belgian Wit seasonal; it was another great Wit style beer to add to the list. Next we went around the corner to Breckenridge Brewery, a larger restaurant and brewery that carried a variety of great beer from around town as well as their own selection.

When we first set off for Denver I thought we might just check out a couple places and then head back out to Roland’s place for the night. Little did I know that we were actually out for an all night brew tour of Denver! Everywhere we went, there seemed to be another great spot just down the street or around the corner. We visited River North Brewing and Renegade, both excellent companies. Lindsey really enjoyed the Poblano Amber Ale at Renegade; it had quite the smoky-spicy undertone. We finally finished the night at a taproom and restaurant next to Roland’s where we met up with his sister and her friend. Needless to say, I might have fallen asleep during dinner.

After our wild night out in Denver we enjoyed some breakfast at Roland’s and were able to take advantage of the shower, it is so nice to be in a bathroom that isn’t at a campground, where you don’t feel the need to wear sandals into the shower. Our goal for the morning was to go back into Denver and check out the specialty product of Glaze, called a baum cake. It’s a very interesting old European style of baking with a Japanese twist. It is a place Lindsey read about while we lived in Florida, and we added it to the list of things to see while we traveled the country.

Roland’s mom, sister, and her friend had caught wind of our plans to visit the bakery and asked to join, we said of course! The more the merrier. We all loaded up in Big Red, their old Suburban, and headed off to find some cake for breakfast. They have a really nice store and seating area, and offer several delicious confections. We had a lot of fun watching the head baker use the incredible oven to make these large tube shaped cakes, one layer at a time.

After loading up on sweets for the road, it was time to head out of Denver and toward Fort Collins, so we all said our goodbyes and took pictures by the bus. It was so nice to make new friends and have an excellent place to stay while we visited the city; I hope Roland makes it out to Portland sometime soon so we can visit again.

Next stop in Colorado was a campground less than a quarter mile from the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park and the little town of Grand Lake. To get there, we headed North out of Colorado Springs and then turned into the mountains, crossing the Berthoud Pass up and over towards Grand Lake. In nearly any other vehicle, this would be a simple task. In an ’84 Blue Bird bus with a Cummins VT555, not so much. The real difficulty arose when the freeway started a long, gradual climb upwards to 11,000 feet. That is roughly the equivalent of driving over Mt Hood! The bus was already underperforming in the thin, high altitude air, so adding a steady climb like that greatly decreased our power. Our eyes stayed close to the temp gauge, and we had to pull over a couple times to let the engine cool down. But nothing went wrong, and luckily there were multiple lanes so everyone could go around us as we crept along at 20 mph. Once again, our bus did us proud by getting us safely to the other side. It was a little nerve wracking, but in the end we had conquered the mountain, and took in amazing scenery on the way.

As we came down the other side of the mountain, we arrived in the ski town of Winter Park. Scanning the village for points of interest, low and behold we spied a brewery brilliantly called The Library. Still slightly shaken from the high mountain pass, we decided it was indeed happy hour. We pulled over into some empty on street parking and went inside to check it out. The Library Sports Grille and Brewery is a total ski bum bar, with a literary bent to it. I’m sure it’s packed in the winter, but this time of year it did have a decent amount of summer time tourists. We each tried a beer, and I was especially fond of my Oats n’ Cream Stout. When I noticed the shirts the staff were wearing, I knew I had to have my own. So now I’m a proud bearer of the slogan, “Don’t lie to your mom, tell her you were at The Library”.

We got to our campground shortly after our stop, and were very happy at the sight of it. The Elk Creek Campground is an extremely friendly and affordable place, with just under forty spaces for parking your rig with hookups, and also tent spaces, tipis and cabin rentals. I will say the showers are quite wonderful too. We were relieved to meet the owners and find how nice they are, and the fact that they appreciated our bus but never made a big deal out of it was really cool. They also have a very sweet golden retriever that hangs around camp. Our stay there was very comfortable, and they also were able to figure out how to extend our visit to a third night. The campground is also very much surrounded by nature, even though it is so close to town. While we somehow never had the opportunity to witness it, there are several moose, including a cow and her two calves, that like to graze on site, and also a bear reportedly trundled right past our bus our last night there. All the other campers there, even the ones with the fancy top dollar RVs were very friendly and really interested in our bus.

We had great ambitions for our first outing into the National Park. I chose a moderate to difficult (depending on who you ask) hike to Timber Lake, a 10.6 mile round trip. Even after hearing about a difficult detour around a landslide, I was only more determined to reach the top. It was hard, but we enjoyed it nevertheless. We huffed and puffed our way up 2,100 feet, mostly in forest with small waterfalls throughout. Near the top we came out of the trees and into a series of meadows. Finally, long after we had expected it, we reached the lake at the top. It was beautiful and well worth the trek. When we were done, we were ready for dinner and a relaxing evening around the fire. On the way back towards camp, we saw a lot of cars pulled over to the side of the road. This is a sure sign that some kind of wildlife is in sight. So we pulled over too to get a look, and there we saw our first moose! A second moose, a bull, was also just down the road in the next field. They are magnificent creatures.

The next day we quickly realized we wouldn’t be doing more hiking. I woke up still feeling ill after an uneasy night, and Steven was dizzy. We managed to make ourselves breakfast, but didn’t do much else for a few hours. We weren’t sure what the deal was, when it finally dawned on us: we had altitude sickness. Steven was alright, just a little disoriented, while I fought the urge to lose my breakfast. I guess sleeping at 8,000 feet, and climbing higher during the day is one way to make yourself feel weird when you’re not used to it. But the surrounding beauty is so worth it, and we were so happy to be up in the fresh mountain air.

Once we decided we were fit enough to leave camp, we took the motorcycle down the road into Grand Lake. The cool breeze coming off the water made me feel so much better, we were able to get some lunch. We were still feeling strong, so we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the area on the motorcycle. It was a nice day for a ride, not too hot. We went to see Lake Granby down the road, the Granby Dam, and we drove around some back roads full of lakeside cabins.

Upon arriving back at camp, we saw again a crowd of vehicles on the side of the road, so we went to investigate. It was another bull moose, this time much closer to us. We watched him graze for a while and tried to get some good photos. Before turning back, we went just up the road towards the park to see what other creatures were out. Right around the corner we found a herd of elk, with lots of cute calves!

Our last morning there found us on one more bike ride, up into the park. Our time there, even with the altitude sickness, was amazing and we wouldn’t hesitate to go back and see more of the park. I loved how much wildness surrounded us, yet we didn’t need to travel very far from civilization to experience it. As check out time rolled around, we thanked our hosts and turned to brave the mountain pass once more. This time we’d be starting from higher elevation, and gravity was in our favor as we coasted down to Denver.

Continuing west from our last stop in Kansas, Colorado Springs would be our first foray into the beautiful state of Colorado. We were so excited to finally have a chance to visit this awesome state, neither Lindsey nor I have ever been to Colorado before and it has been calling our names for a while.

Driving into town we found our camping spot for the next 2 nights, a little tiny RV park right on the edge of town. It didn’t provide much privacy or scenery, but the spots were very affordable, we had a place to plug in our power cord, and a nice bathhouse at our disposal. It was also very close to some of the places we wanted to visit while in town, so it worked out perfectly.

After getting settled into our spot we quickly unloaded our bicycles and set out on a fun little ride through town to Bristol Brewery. There was a nice set of bike trails that took us almost all the way there. We had read about Bristol on our drive through Kansas, and it sounded too interesting to pass up. The brewery has recently renovated an old elementary school building called Ivywild School to house its brewing operation and small pub. It also shares the space with a few other local artisans’ including a bakery and a meat company, which supply the pub with delicious fresh and local ingredients for their sandwiches and other options. This is a really interesting idea for a community space; it was very fun to visit. Lindsey and I enjoyed sampling a couple beers and having a delicious sandwich before heading off into the dusk to ride back to the bus.

The next morning we were up early, excited for a day full of adventure. Our goal for the day was to make it to the top of Pikes Peak, one of the highest mountains you can drive up. We were determined to make it up on our little motorcycle, even though we were a little uneasy about how it would handle the thin air at high altitude. We loaded a backpack with camera gear, water, and some lunch and got ready for the ride. Since we were parked on the edge of town, we were only a few minutes away from the start of the Pikes Peak Highway, once we arrived we waited in line with quite a few other cars and motorcycles until we finally had our turn to pay our entrance fee and start the climb. It was so exhilarating to be riding a motorcycle up Pikes Peak! I have long been a fan of the International Hill Climb race that has taken place here annually since 1916, and to ride up the same road as the competitors do was a dream come true for me.

With a starting elevation of 7,400 feet our little Yamaha was already starting to run out of breath, so by the time we got to the 14,115 foot summit it would barely run above a quarter throttle, although she never failed! Once we reached the summit it was such an incredible view, words can’t describe how amazing it was to be standing on the edge of the rocks and looking out for miles at mountains and forest. After spending a while looking out over the country below we got back on the bike and headed down to a big rock outcropping we had seen on the ride up, just below the summit. Parking in the turnout we climbed up into the rocks to be greeted by another spectacular view. We found a comfy spot to sit and broke out our picnic lunch. Nothing like a little scenery while you eat lunch! After relaxing for a while and taking pictures we started our descent. This time we stopped at several turnouts to take photos and look out over the mountains. It is a lot easier to stop on the way down, when you don’t have to worry about losing your momentum and getting started again. As we wound our way back down the mountain through the switchbacks I silently thanked Yamaha for putting a decent set of brakes on the little XT250. We eventually made it to the bottom and rejoiced, we had conquered a fourteener on our motorcycle! I am so thankful to have a brave and trusting girlfriend who doesn’t hesitate to hop on the bike and go on a ride, and I am so proud of our little motorcycle for carrying us safely to the top and back. Getting to the top of Piles Peak was definitely one of the main highlights of the trip for both of us. I have no doubt that I will be back to ride up it again in the future.

Heading back toward Colorado Springs we rode out to the Garden Of The Gods Park, where we rode through the winding roads around some beautiful red rock formations. Stopping in a few places to walk out into the rocks and take photos, it was another amazing experience. The large, brightly colored formations used to be a popular meeting area for various Native American tribes, since they are such a remarkable landmark.

To finish off our long day of exploring we headed over to Trinity Brewing, where we sampled a few of their amazing beers and had some great food. Trinity does a lot of Saison style beer, which is one of our favorites. Along with the large selection of Saisons, there were some rare beers including a sour, and they utilized many brewing techniques with different combinations of barrel aging and Belgian yeasts, as well as the typical house offerings. They are easily at the top of our favorite brewery list; we hope we can find some of their interesting bottled beers back home in Oregon.

Leaving Michigan was difficult, but we have a long ways to go until we are back in Oregon. After spending several days exploring the areas around Holland and Grand Rapids we have grown to love the state, it is full of delicious craft beer and beautiful scenery. Saying goodbye to Allison and her wonderful family we hit the road again, with Colorado in our sights.

This next leg of the trip was going to be interesting; we had a lot of prairie to cross and we didn’t know what to expect. When we would tell people of our plans, most everyone told us that the drive through the Midwest would be the most boring and desolate part of the trip. And while it is definitely a change from being in the mountains we found ourselves enjoying the drive, there is a lot of beauty in the patchwork of farmland that makes up the heartland of America. Leaving Holland on Friday morning we quickly found ourselves cruising through Indiana and Illinois, once we got out of the Chicago area we drove on through countless miles of corn and soybeans.

Our stopping place for the night was another Wal-Mart parking lot, in Hannibal, Missouri. We discovered that Hannibal is where Mark Twain grew up; there were a lot of buildings and stores in the area with Tom Sawyer themed names. Unfortunately by the time we arrived there wasn’t much time left in the day to explore the area, so we contented ourselves by making some dinner and watching a movie on the computer. Parking overnight at Wal-Mart sure isn’t the most romantic place to camp, but they actually work out pretty well. We haven’t been bothered by anyone yet, and there’s always a quiet corner of the lot to park in.

Getting back on the road in the morning we headed across Missouri, the big straight highways inspired Lindsey to take a turn at the wheel, the first time she has driven the bus so far. She did a great job, and drove for almost 2 hours while I got to lounge around and relax. It is an interesting experience to hangout in the bus while it is in motion, it was pretty fun to sit at the table and work on the computer while she drove. I was also able to pay more attention to the funny looks we get from other people on the road, it is interesting to see all the different expressions on peoples faces when they pass us.

Crossing into Kansas we noticed more wheat fields along the road, and lots of interesting old farm buildings. We pulled off the highway onto a dusty county road in Randall and followed directions out into the prairie, where we found Roger and Jan’s house and shop, where we would be spending the night. Once we had the bus settled and plugged into the barn, we sat and talked with the couple for a while. They live in a buried concrete home they built themselves in the early 80’s, the entire roof, sides, and back side of the house are buried under a large dirt hill with grass growing and vent pipes sticking up. Their reasoning behind the interesting construction was to keep it extremely energy efficient, and to provide a safe shelter from the occasional tornado that comes through the area. The foot thick concrete walls and several feet or earth really make for a good insulator, we walked in from the oppressive summer heat to find the house cool and comfortable.

Roger then took us out on a little tour of their farm, his family has been farming the same area since the late 1800’s, although now they have 2000 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat, and milo, instead of the ~160 they started with. We got to see the original homestead, with the home built in 1878 still in use by Roger’s son. Listening to Roger made us realize how adaptive you must be to stay in farming for so long. His family used to make their money hog farming, until Tyson came in and monopolized the industry. Changes like that, as well as massive changes in technology keep farmers on their toes. It’s a constantly evolving environment.

Also on their property are several abandoned buildings and homesteads, the most interesting one is an old school house, built in the late 1800’s and used into the 1950’s. It is still standing, although very run down. Roger’s mother actually used to teach there, and he himself had some schooling in it. He said that back in the day, all the kids lived within 2.5 miles and would walk or ride their horses to school. Grades 1 through 8 were taught at the same time, with about 20 students total. It was an amazing time capsule to walk through, making sure to avoid the rotten floorboards and rusty metal. This building would make such an interesting bar or restaurant, our minds were full of ideas.

To cap off the day, Lindsey and I climbed up to the top of the 120ft tall grain leg, a giant grain-sorting tower. It provided some spectacular views, it was a clear day and the land is so flat that you could see for miles. It was a great place to take photos from while the wind pushed us around. We enjoyed a peaceful night sleeping next to the wheat fields, after a quick breakfast we were back on the road, headed for Colorado.

We stayed 8 days Michigan, and when we weren’t exploring the UP, we had the pleasure of camping out at our friend Allison’s house on the edge of town. Our stay with Allison and her family was a great time that felt like a vacation from our vacation. It was a lot more than just a place to park; they really took care of us and made us feel at home. It was great to catch up with a good friend, and her parents, Keith and Pat, went out of their way to make our stay comfortable. Our time in Holland and the surrounding area also involved much fine food and drink, as you might expect!

But first, a little bit about the town of Holland. Holland is in the southwest region of the state, and sits along Lake Michigan. As the name suggests, it’s a Dutch town and proud of it. Windmills are prevalent, as are tulips when the season is right. Unfortunately we missed Tulip Time, which is a celebration of Dutch culture that takes place every May. If you are looking for skyscrapers, you’ll have to drive 20 minutes east to Grand Rapids. But there is a nice view from the 6th floor of the Seminary Library, where Allison works, as it’s the highest point in town. The dunes on the lakeshore can be seen out to the west. The surrounding area is mostly farmland and small towns.

We visited two breweries with Allison downtown, the most popular being New Holland Brewing, which is very big and has a full restaurant. The other, Our Brewery, is still new but seems to do well for itself. A third brewing company, Big Lake Brewing, is in a different part of town that isn’t as quaint but their beer holds its own. Our Brewery caught my attention with their unusual selection. Our flight consisted of a Burnt Caramel Quad, Ginger Beard (perfect for Steven!), Careless Whisper IPA, Chocolate Vienna Lager, Vanilla Milk Stout, and a Curry(!) Cider. While slightly skeptical (there were a lot of creative options to choose from), we were very pleasantly surprised. Especially by the Chocolate Lager, which had the depth of a stout.

Our taster was followed up with dinner down the street at New Holland Brewing. They make excellent beer and food and have something for everyone. They have a selection of beers called the Hatter Series, which includes many beer styles, all with a different mad hatter on the bottle. Steven is partial to the White Hatter, the white Belgian style wit bier. Besides the hatters are many other fine options, as well as their own distilled spirits, but it’s hard to leave room for that when there are such nice beers to be had. We made good use of the patio seating while we were there.

One day while Allison and Keith were at work, Pat took Steven and I on a little field trip. She took us in her car to see the Saugatuck Dunes on Lake Michigan. You have to walk a little ways through the forest to get to the beach, so we had a nice mini hike out there. Afterwards we got a driving tour of a couple little tourist towns and a stop for lunch at Saugatuck Brewing. What makes Saugatuck really unique is that they offer brewing workshops where you can come and learn to make your own batch of beer, leave it there for a week or so to ferment, and come back when it’s time to be bottled and taken home.

We drove through some scenic country until we came to Virtue Cider in Fennville. They are a relatively new company brewing many kinds of craft cider with almost all local apples. The owner is the former owner of Goose Island Beer Company in Chicago, so he brings quite a bit of brewing experience to the cidery. We got a chance to taste everything they have bottled currently, and our favorite was The Mitten, a bourbon barrel aged cider. It has sparked some inspiration in us for future homebrew ambitions. One of the guys there saw Steven taking photos of the place and offered to show us the “cellar” where they hold all the fermenting tanks. It was pretty cool to see! The building is mostly underground to keep everything at an optimal temperature.

We washed that all down with some good old-fashioned fresh pressed apple juice at Crane’s Pie Pantry on the way home. Pat took us the back way on the return trip so we got to do some more sightseeing. I loved seeing all the old farmhouses and little cottages, to the point of Steven’s chagrin I think. It sure felt special to be chauffeured around for a day.

Tuesday found us relaxing at the house and working on the blog until evening came around and we all went out to Big Lake Brewing. We sampled some beers there and ordered a pizza from next door. They had a lot of darker beers, which was a change of pace from all the summer beers we’ve been drinking. After dinner, we headed down to the Holland State Park on Lake Michigan to catch the sunset. There’s a beach there, with a lighthouse and a pier. We had a funny experience as we walked out onto the concrete pier and found ourselves in the midst of a surprise proposal. The term “surprise” is relative I guess because it was pretty obvious what was going on. It was a very young couple and it was pretty cheesy, but it was fun to see her family trying to hide out of sight while she walked past us and of course said yes with a million eyes burning into the back of her head. Awkward! Even though it was a cloudy sky, the sunset cast a beautiful pastel light on everything and once again, Michigan proved to us how wonderful it’s summers are.

On Wednesday, Steven, Keith, Pat and I took a trip to the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners. It was a huge place with several large barns full of classic cars, motorcycles, and even some campers! We also found a double decker bus, and immediately saw the possibilities for a conversion. That would be a fun project for a little house. There were so many cars and things to see, it was an impressive collection. I think Steven and Keith each took hundreds of pictures. Allison had to work, but she didn’t mind missing the museum so much. She was more interested in our next stop, Bell’s Brewing in Kalamazoo.

Steven and I were introduced to Bell’s when we moved to Florida, as we learned about all kinds of craft beer west of the Mississippi that doesn’t make it out to the Northwest. We were looking forward to trying some more of their beer with lunch, and were really blown away. We had a flight of six samples, and loved each of them. They have a really wide range of offerings, everything from their flagship summer wheat beer to a couple Belgian styles, a sour, darker high gravity beers, and IPA’s, to name just a few. When we finished lunch we stopped in at their store for some goodies. It’s pretty neat that they sell home brewing equipment there too.

But the fun didn’t stop in Kalamazoo! Keith had something planned for us that evening, a little thing he likes to call a Bike and Brew. We went back to the house to pick up Allison and load up our bikes, and we set off for Grand Rapids. Our destinations were Founders Brewing and Hopcat. There was a nice paved bike path from a park into the city, so the 8 miles in didn’t feel bad. Founders is becoming an expansive brewery, I’ll be curious to see if we find it back home. They are known for their extremely drinkable All Day IPA and the Breakfast Stout. After a quick taste there we continued on a couple blocks to Hopcat. Hopcat is a cool hangout with lots of taps and a couple of their own brews. We all had burgers and the aptly named and very addictive “crack fries”. As we finished up, we couldn’t help but notice the sun dipping lower and lower, and we still had another 8 miles to get back to the car. So with no excuses to lag behind, we kept up the pace on the way back. I may have taken the liberty of exercising my vocal cords as well as my legs, just to keep myself going. Sorry, guys… We had a great time, and Steven and I have decided to try to make biking to breweries a habit. It feels good to work for your beer a little bit.

We enjoyed one more day at the house on Thursday getting the bus cleaned and reorganized, ready to get back on the road. Allison took us downtown one more time that evening, and then we had a delicious meal of homemade pizza. Michigan was such a great time, and we are so grateful for everything the Van Liere’s provided. It feels like I gained an extra set of parents over the week. I’d love to go back and experience another summer camping trip on those incredible lakes. We were sad to leave it behind us, but it was time to trade out sand dunes for mountains out West. Michigan, we’ll miss you! Until next time.

When I think about how long we have been traveling and all the places and things we have seen it is hard to believe it has only been a month and a half so far. Staying here in Michigan has been an amazing time, spent with great friends. Michigan is more or less our halfway point, from here it is westward toward home! We are estimating our arrival in the Portland area mid-late August. Thinking about our big adventure winding down is sad, but we are also anxious to get home and see our family and friends, as well as get started on some of our business ideas we have been tossing around. I am also excited to catch the last few weeks of the beautiful Oregon summer.

Our bus is feeling more and more like home every day, and I have no problem with that. It is interesting to see just how easy it is to live comfortably in a 240 square foot space, a year ago I never imagined we would be doing this. I am so proud of our bus, we have put over 6000 miles on her in the last 6 weeks without a single hiccup, except for our alternator dying on our trip across Ontario. If that is the worst thing to happen on this journey I will be so happy. Of course the more time we spend living and traveling in the bus, the more attached I get. I don’t imagine that it will be going anywhere soon once we get to Oregon. I already have big plans in my head to remodel the interior to create a more permanent living space, and fortunately Lindsey is totally on board with the idea. Real plumbing, a better designed kitchen area, a large roof deck, and a much bigger solar array are already in the plans. We may just end up being those crazy (debt free) people living in the old bus out on the farm. Life can’t get better than that.

We made this map to show our route so far. Photos courtesy of Keith Van Liere.

Ever since we heard about Michigan’s Upper Peninsula some years ago, we’ve been eager to see it. It was first described to us as “basically Canada”. The Upper Peninsula (the UP) is the northern section of the state that in the past has frequently been forgotten on maps and verbal discussions of the more widely recognized lower half (the Mitten). We had planned a long weekend camping trip with Allison to see what it was all about.

After arriving in Holland and spending some much needed time tidying up the bus and getting batteries all charged back up, it was time to leave on our big camping trip. This is the trip we have been planning for a while, and the reason we didn’t spend as much time in some of the other states. Allison had taken Friday off, so we were all set to depart Thursday evening when she got home from work. The bus was loaded with food and gear for our UP adventure! And we couldn’t forget to bring along some Bell’s Oberon, the official summer beer of Michigan. Setting off from Holland around 5 PM, we headed north toward Mackinaw City, our stopping point for the night. As we were driving, Allison and I had been looking up places to park overnight, and hadn’t turned up much of anything. We figured it would be another Wal-Mart night for us, until we decided to try a place called French Farm Lake, which supposedly had free camping. It didn’t look like much on the map, but we had to go check it out. Arriving in Mackinaw City we got a great view of the Mackinac (still pronounced “Mackinaw”) bridge as the sun went down, we turned off the highway and found the road leading to French Farm Lake. This road was a decent gravel road, although a little narrow for the bus, so we pushed on farther into the woods. Soon the road turned to sandy dirt and got even narrower. We threaded the bus through the trees looking for a spot big enough to pull off and set up camp. It was quickly getting dark and hard to see in the forest along the lake. We found a spot that looked like it would work, but we needed to turn around to get a better approach angle, so we continued down the road in search of a wide enough area to turn around. A little farther down the road ended at a small turn around where several grizzled locals were pulling small fishing boats out of the water for the night, they all stared with amusement as they watched us come cruising up in the giant bus, and turn around in the small sandy area. At last we were pointing the other direction down the narrow dirt lane, and drove back up to the spot we had seen. Fortunately Allison and I were able to use flashlights and help watch all the corners as Steven made a strange 3 point turn and squeezed up into the trees, we had made it to our camping spot for the night! So much better than another parking lot stop. We set about making a small campfire and putting together some hot sandwiches and soup for dinner. Relaxing around a fire with a cold can of beer was a great way to end the night and start our camping adventure. While we sat quietly and enjoyed the evening sounds we heard a loon singing his mournful call out on the lake. It was then that I realized we had arrived. This was the place to be.

Waking up the next morning to a view of the sun on the little lake was great, it’s nice to have a bedroom with so many windows! After cooking some delicious eggs in the cast iron skillet we set about cleaning up camp, preparing to continue our trek into the UP. After taking photos and climbing the small dune next to our campsite we fired up the bus and began the process of extracting ourselves from the trees. Again it was very nice to have 2 extra sets of eyes to help maneuver through the trees and back out onto the road. From there it was a piece of cake to find our way back out to Mackinaw City and head for the bridge to the UP.

Ask anyone familiar with Michigan about the UP and they will tell you it’s one of the greatest summer destinations in the country. Ask someone in the UP about it, and they will tell you it is the best place on Earth, period. Residents of the UP, or Yoopers, are very enthusiastic about their stomping grounds. And they have many reasons to be proud! Entering the UP is like entering another country, and it all starts with the Mackinac Bridge. It’s a long suspension bridge that provides a beautiful view of the Straits of Mackinac, where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron meet. When you get to the other side, you’ve made it to the Upper Peninsula. We stopped at a bridge overlook to snap some photos.

Our next stop was Tahquamenon Falls State Park (rhymes with phenomenon). It didn’t take long to get there, maybe an hour and a half. So we had plenty of time to get settled at our campsite and go exploring. We loved all the hilarious looks we got from our fellow campers with their tents or fancy RVs. Our neighbors next to us had a nice rig, complete with two scooters and two folding bicycles, and they made sure not to engage with us. Their loss! But other campers around the park were more interested, and told us they thought the bus was awesome. We beamed with pride.

The Upper Falls viewing area was four miles away from the campsite, and it was a bit late in the day to start an 8 mile trek, so Steven took turns giving Allison and I rides on the motorcycle like a true ladies man. There was a large shopping area and brew pub at the Upper Falls parking area, all very commercialized and busy. We avoided it and continued down the path see the water fall, and understood why it is sometimes called the root beer falls. There are tannins that leach out of the trees into the river, giving the falls a reddish brown hue that tumbles 50 feet into the foamy water below.

When we returned to camp, we took a walk around to see the smaller Lower Falls, got slightly lost in the woods, then got back just in time to purchase some firewood from a local vendor that drives around the camp in the evenings. Michigan has had a problem with the Emerald Ash Bore, which if you listen to Science Friday on NPR, you might have heard of it! It’s an invasive bug that destroys trees and is easily transported via firewood. Therefore, you are not allowed to bring your own firewood to camp and must purchase it on site. (That was something we were asked about at each border crossing, too).

Finally it was time for pizza! After successfully baking a cobbler some days ago in the tiny camp oven, I was fairly positive we could make some tiny pizzas too. They turned out beautifully; talk about luxurious camping. It rained a little bit while we made dinner, but luckily it dissipated and did not ruin our s’more ambitions. However, there was a wild critter that was determined to take advantage of the situation. There we were, full of pizza and wiping the melty chocolate from our chins, when there was a faint rustling sound behind us. No matter, we were parked up against the woods and there were leaves all over the ground, and lots of chipmunks. Pretty soon there were more rustling sounds. This still did not alarm us. After a few moments the rustling came once more, this time louder than before. I stood out of my chair, “OKAY GUYS. What is going on?!”

The sounds got more frantic as I walked the short couple of feet back to the picnic table where our bag of sweets was sitting. I couldn’t see anything in the darkness, but Steven came running with a flashlight and we followed the scrambling sounds. Peering down the slope into the trees, we saw a pair of eyes twinkling in the beam of the flashlight, and a pair of tiny black hands gripping an ENTIRE BAG of marshmallows! We all came to one conclusion: there’s going to be a very sick raccoon in the woods tomorrow morning. Sure enough, we recovered the empty bag the next day, and laughed again at the creature’s boldness.

Saturday found us on the road again, driving towards Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We decided to brave an unpaved back road that went along Lake Superior. It turned out to be a good decision, as the road was wide and had an excellent spot to pull over and check out the rocky beach. The water was cold and the rocks were beautiful, we put a few in our pockets to take home with us.

We bumped along until we came back out to paved roads and into Pictured Rocks. The National Lakeshore runs for 42 miles along Lake Superior and is home to waterfalls, sand dunes, and beautiful cliff formations. We packed some sandwiches into our backpacks and hiked to the Au Sable dunes, first down to the beach, then up into the sand for a picnic lunch. We really enjoyed sitting up there in the extra fine sand, looking out over the water. We watched fog roll in, slow at first then seemed to speed up as it reached the shore, obscuring the water completely and washing through the tree tops over us. The temperature instantly dropped as the cloud enveloped us. It was a really cool feeling.

After lunch, we kept on moving, stopping to see the log slide overlook down the road. The log slide is on the side of an extremely steep dune where loggers used to slide trees down to the lake. The fog created a ghostly feel as we stood on the edge an saw nothing but white before us, water droplets forming in our hair. We moved on from there to the western edge of the park at Miners Castle. Miners Castle is the name for the cliff formations that have been eroded over the years by the lake, leaving behind strange indents and caves. Of course we couldn’t see a thing with the fog, but we were able to hike the half mile to Miners Falls, which was neat. I hadn’t expected to see so many spectacular water falls on this trip!

Our stop for the night was at a boondocker’s house, right on the edge of Lake Superior. I think it’s hard to find a place in the UP that doesn’t have amazing scenery. Jean and Wes were happy to let us park in their driveway for the night, and we were grateful. We had a relaxing evening in the bus full of tacos, beer, and Allison’s beautiful banjo playing. The next morning we were delighted to see that the fog had burned off, and we stood at the edge of the yard, taking in the view.

Seeing that the fog was gone, we planned on going back to Miners Castle before heading home. But there was one other thing we had to do first: get pasties for breakfast. Pasties are a UP tradition, and are popular in England as well. It’s a round pastry stuffed with meat and root vegetables and seasonings. We went to a shop down the road called Muldoon’s, where they made the pasties fresh (and had vegetarian ones!). We each scarfed one down on the way to Miners Castle, and put some extras in the fridge for later. When we got to the lookout, it was clear as ever and we were blown away by the stunning beauty of it all.

We reluctantly pulled ourselves away from the Pictured Rocks, still full of pastie, and started back to Holland where hot showers awaited us. It was a weekend camping trip of epic proportions.

From Vermont our next destination was Holland, Michigan; where we would meet our friend Allison and spend several days exploring the area with her. To get from Burlington to Holland we had to decide which route to take, the long way around through Ohio, or straight across through Ontario? After our recent border issues we were skeptical about doing another one, but decided we wanted to give it a try. We wanted to see if we would have trouble again, or breeze right through like many other travelers we have talked to.

After we spent the first part of the day exploring Burlington, we loaded up and headed across the bridge into New York. Our goal for the evening was Saranac Lake, where we planned to meet another couple with a bus project and park at their place for the night. Driving through the Adirondack Mountains was an amazing experience, even though it can be a chore to weave the bus through some of the small towns and winding mountain roads. There were so many beautiful rivers and overlooks, it would have been fun to spend an entire week camping and exploring the area. On the way to our destination, we passed through Lake Placid and got some views of the old winter Olympics structures. The Olympic training center is still used today, and tourists are welcome at some of the points of interest, such as the towering ski jumps. As scary as those things look on TV, they are even more intimidating in real life! The Lake Placid high school even makes use of the speed skating rink, which serves as their track. Arriving in Saranac Lake we found Shelby and Dave’s apartment and got the bus situated for the night. We met them through Instagram after they started commenting on our pictures, and when they learned of our route they offered up a place to park and a tour of their own bus project. We couldn’t say no! It was a lot of fun to compare buses, theirs is still in the middle of the construction phase but it is coming along nicely. It is going to be a more complete home than ours is, which will be a lot of fun for them. Next on the agenda for the evening was a drive over to Lake Placid, where we were going to have dinner and beers at Lake Placid Craft Brewing, home of the famous “Ubu Ale”, a strong, dark English style ale. We really enjoyed the food and beers, as well as having some fun people to hang out with. We stayed out late into the night telling travel stories and playing the beanbag toss game in the brewery yard.

The next morning we relaxed in the bus while we tried to figure out which direction to head and where to stop for the night. After studying maps for a couple hours and looking up various camping options we just couldn’t find anything that fit our plans, so we waved goodbye to Dave and decided to head towards Niagara Falls, to see how far we could get before we called it a night. Our camping spot ended up being a Wal-Mart parking lot in Albion, NY. This was the first time we had parked at a Wal-Mart (wallydocking) and we weren’t too thrilled, but it was a free place to stay for the night and we could get a few groceries inside. It turned out to be better than expected, we had a quiet corner of the lot and no one bothered us. We even met another traveler parked there in his converted van, it was interesting to share stories with him and learn about his recent trips around New England. Lindsey made us an amazing dinner, homemade potato chowder and even a strawberry rhubarb cobbler, baked in the tiny oven. This was the first real use of the oven, and we weren’t sure how well it would work, but it did great! We sat at the table looking out the window at the beautiful sunset, happy to be out exploring the world even if we were in a parking lot.

After cooking some breakfast the next morning we got everything put away and ready to get back out on the road, this was the big day! The Canadian border was only an hour away and we were ready for it. As we waited in line to go through the checkpoint we relaxed and prepared ourselves for another invasive search. Finally our turn came at the window where the officer checked over our passports, asked a few questions, and waved us on our way. This was impossible. How could it be so easy? We rejoiced as we paid our toll and headed toward Niagara Falls. Circling the area for half an hour we finally found a place to park the bus so we could visit the falls. It was a rainy cloudy day, so the view wasn’t as clear as it could have been but it was a powerful experience to stand out on the point only a few feet from where the river plunged down over the edge. It was more impressive than I ever imagined it would be, I am very thankful we decided to stop there along the way. Lindsey and I watched the waterfall for a while before we walked back to our bus just in time to miss the heavy downpour that started.

Heading back out onto the highway we slogged west though the rainstorm hoping to reach Holland before midnight. Somewhere along the way I noticed a strange squeaking sound coming from the front of the engine, I just chalked it up to a belt making noise from being wet and didn’t think much of it. The rest of the drive through Ontario was uneventful; we were noticing how much the terrain was changing, long gone were the mountains of New York. We finally reached the Michigan border, where we got our first glimpse of the great lakes. The highway leading to the US border went up over a beautiful bridge where we could see Lake Huron off to the right side, never before had we seen such a vast expanse of water that wasn’t an ocean. We were so excited to be here. The real fun started when we pulled up to the US Customs window, where the officer asked me to shut down the bus so we could talk without yelling. I of course said sure thing and reached for the key, as I was about to turn it a little voice in the back of the mind said “don’t do it” but I shrugged it off thinking it was silly, the bus hasn’t had any issues so far, why should it start now. After completing the passport check and declaration paperwork he motioned us over to a side area to wait for our “random” inspection (yea right) but as I turned the key and hit the start button all I got in return was a loud click. I tried again with no luck. Great, now we are stuck in the lane at the US Customs with a dead battery. That’s when I realized that the strange squealing I had heard earlier in the day was the alternator in its death throes, possibly killed by the heavy rainstorm. I had been driving along all day with all the headlights and running lights on, as well as the fan so the starting batteries were too weak to crank the giant diesel engine. There we were in our crazy old bus, broken down in the middle of the border crossing with a line of people behind us. This is one of those moments where you just laugh and can’t believe it is happening. I explain to the border officer what the problem is and he radios for the Michigan DOT to send a truck over, so a few minutes later a pickup pulls up to the bus, we hook up some jump leads, let it sit for a couple minutes and then she fired right up. Fortunately these old diesel’s don’t require any electricity to run, so as long as we could leave it running and not shut it off we would be ok to make it to our stop for the night. After going through some of the typical US bureaucratic nonsense we were finally free to continue into Michigan. We still had a few hours to go until we reached Holland, and we weren’t sure if we were going to make it.

As we rumbled along watching the sun go down I was a little nervous, as our headlights would barely turn on without our batteries charged up. By the time nine o’clock rolled around we were running down the highway without any lights, and still had a couple hours to go. The setting sun was still lighting up the horizon so we pushed on, but kept an eye out for a place to park. After another 45 minutes on the road it was too dark to be on the roads with our dim candles for headlights, so we pulled off into a rest stop to wait until daylight so we could see. I parked the bus in a spot and shut it off, praying that I would be able to get it going again in the morning. Luckily I was able to hook up our little generator to my battery charger and jump-start it again in the morning. Driving along in the bright morning sun we were just happy to be so close to a friends house, where we would be parking for the next several days. I could figure out what to do with the alternator while we relaxed with Allison and her family. We pulled into their house and got the bus situated on the driveway before shutting it down one last time. After saying hello to Allison’s parents we set off into Holland on the motorcycle, ready to see all that Michigan has to offer.